Bryan Mann is a Ph.D. candidate in the Educational Theory and Policy program at Penn State University. His research interests include educational policy & leadership, charter schools, K–12 online education, and GIS and quantitative methods.

Stephen Kotok
University of Texas at El Paso United States

Stephen Kotok is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Foundations at the University of Texas at El Paso. His research interests include educational policy, charter schools, school climate, the effects of social stratification on K–12 education, and quantitative methods.

Erica Frankenberg
Pennsylvania State University United States

Erica Frankenberg is an Associate Professor of Education and Demography in the Department of Education Policy Studies at Penn State University. Her research interests focus on racial desegregation and inequality in K–12 schools, school choice and racial stratification, and the connections between school segregation and other metropolitan policies.

Ed Fuller
Pennsylvania State University United States

Ed Fuller is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies at Penn State University. His research interests include school and district leaders, evaluation, and charter school issues.

Kai Schafft
Pennsylvania State University United States

Kai A. Schafft is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies at Penn State University. He conducts research on rural education and the relationship between spatial and social inequality.

Choice, Cyber Charter Schools, and the Educational Marketplace for Rural School Districts

Bryan Mann, Stephen Kotok, Erica Frankenberg, Ed Fuller, Kai Schafft

Abstract

Pennsylvania is a state with significant proportions of students who attend rural schools, as well as students who attend charter schools. This study examines enrollment patterns of students in brick and mortar and cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania and how these enrollment patterns differ across geographic locale. We analyze student-level enrollment data, controlling for demographic characteristics, and find that, in contrast to brick and mortar schools, cyber charter schools attract students from a variety of locales across the urban-rural continuum. However, rural students exhibit the greatest likelihood of attending cyber charter schools. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to educational equity, cyber charter school underperformance, and the fiscal impacts of charter schools on the budgets of small school districts.